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Following the New York Giants' Super Bowl XLVI win over the New England Patriots, the ongoing feud between Big Blue defensive end Osi Umenyiora and Philadelphia Eagles running back LeSean McCoy took a bit of a back seat. The two had, momentarily, stopped exchanging barbs. That cease fire came to an end on Sunday as Chief Osi took to Twitter and once again took McCoy to task.

The feud between Umenyiora and McCoy is something that has been developing on the field for years, but was made public last season after Osi said he deserved a larger contract. Unprovoked, McCoy tweeted his thoughts on the situation.

"Overrated and soft. Third best defensive lineman on his team. Honestly,” McCoy tweeted at the time.

Naturally, that tweet was met with quite a bit of hostility from Umenyiora and his teammates. And shortly thereafter, it was made public that the Giants defense refers to McCoy as "Lady Gaga" or, in some cases, “Chihuahua.”

“That little Chihuahua or poodle in the backfield; he doesn’t have to block me,” Umenyiora said at the time. “If you have something to say, say it man to man; you can’t be a Twitter gangster. That’s easy to do, trying to be a tough guy. Say it to my face, and we’ll see what happens.”

Perry Fewell is in the process of figuring out how many linebackers he will play and who will be in his main middle linebacker this season.

Michael Boley, Chase Blackburn, Greg Jones and Mark Herzlich all are in the mix at middle linebacker. Fewell said typically he is looking for a two-down middle linebacker and then perhaps another middle linebacker to play on third downs or passing downs. Boley was the team’s middle linebacker on passing situations.

As for who could be that two-down middle linebacker on first and second downs, Fewell pointed first to Blackburn.

“Chase goes back to that role,” Fewell said. “Or Herzlich will have an opportunity to compete for that role. Greg Jones will have an opportunity to compete for that role. And Keith Rivers, we are giving him an opportunity to compete for that role also. So there’s going to be competition.”

The addition of Rivers, another athletic outside linebacker, gives Fewell more flexibility and options. But the defensive coordinator says he is looking for somebody to take control and step up as his middle linebacker.

“That is going to be an area of emphasis for us this year,” Fewell said. “I sense that we are going to put it up for grabs. Whoever can take the bull by the horns and lead us will have the opportunity to step up and play.”

GM Jerry Reese mentioned Boley as a candidate for the middle earlier in the offseason. Fewell said Boley can do it, but wondered if it was best for Boley and the team.

“Is that his best position?” Fewell asked. “I don’t think that is his best position in the long run, but he has the ability to do that.”

Fewell is looking for a middle linebacker to take control in the classroom and become a leader. In the meantime, he and his coaching staff will have to figure out how to utilize their linebackers. He also has his wildcard linebacker/defensive end Mathias Kiwanuka in the arsenal as well.

“A lot of these teams are one-back spread teams and they throw the ball all over the place,” Fewell said. “We talk in terms of being a two-down MIKE and then having a third-down middle linebacker. But what is a two-down MIKE? So we might have to redefine that a little bit as we continue to evaluate what offenses are doing in the National Football League.”

Fewell could potentially play more lineups with three traditional linebackers and fewer three-safety packages. But the defensive coordinator likes his three-safety looks and said he wants to keep that in his defensive arsenal, even with Deon Grant remaining an unsigned free agent.

“We have talked about that,” Fewell said when asked if he could potentially use fewer than three safeties with the addition of Rivers. “We are just going to wait and see. Obviously we like that particular package and we don’t want to lose that particular package. That is valuable for us.”

“But with the addition of the linebackers that we have, we can be a little bit more creative,” he added. “We just have to figure out who goes where, who can learn the best and we will take it from there.”

Joeseph is the key. Given that last year was his first year playing really at all I expect him to make another significant jump this year. If he does playing along with Canty plus a healthy Tuck and JPP we should be good against the run. Rodgers would seem to help us versus the run, especially if paired with Joseph. Austin I don’t is need for us to be successful but he can provide an inside push rushing presence that we don’t have from another DT.

I actually LIKE the fact that Osi hates McCoy. Adds just a little extra juice to the rivalry. And while it may be true that Osi is the third best defensive end on the Giants, when you’re playing behind Tuck and JPP that’s nothing to be ashamed of. Osi would start on just about any other team and be the featured defensive presence on most.

I’ll gladly take one more year from him even if it means we get nothing except a comp pick when he leaves. But that story may not be over. There are probably 7-8 teams that are one injury away from offering the Giants their first-round pick next April in exchange for Osi. Only then would Reese talk to them except to politely turn them down. My hope is that Osi stays for this season. I want the best shot at another championship and he gives us that. A we go over all of the incredible plays that got us a Lombardi Trophy last season no one should forget the strip sack of Rodgers that turned that game our way. If that doesn’t get made who knows where things go?